Page 23 of My Three Hometown Alphas

Mom and Dad were both firm in their belief that we needed to work for what we wanted in this life, but it doesn’t mean some level of privilege didn’t present itself, even if it was unintentional.

A familiar laugh carries from the front of the store.Lyla.With one more glance at Will’s door, I walk through the aisles until I reach the front of the store.

“Uncle Miles,” Lyla yelps, running toward me. I crouch down, barely getting my arms out in time before she crashes into me.

I don’t know how much longer she’ll be giving these kinds of hugs, so I soak up every second of it.

My heart already hurts a little bit for the day when she no longer wants to be my little buddy anymore. I want her to have her independence and be the brave girl she is, but I also want to hold onto my little Lyla girl who had me wrapped her finger since the day she was born.

I can still remember holding her in the hospital room hours after Liv gave birth. Lyla’s eyes fluttered open, blue eyes peering up at me. That was it. I melted onto the tile beneath my feet.

I hold onto her until she starts to pull back. “What are you doing here?”

“We were at the park and wanted to say hi,” Lyla says, pointing over her shoulder.

My eyes track up, landing on Avery. She’s standing there in a pair of athletic shorts, an oversized T-shirt, and tennis shoes. Her hair is in a messy bun, and her face is free of any traces of make-up.

It doesn’t matter, though. She’s still the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.

Lyla mumbles something about flowers before skipping off toward the greenhouse that’s attached to the side of the store. It’s hands down her favorite thing here.

Pressing my hands on my knees, I stand up. My eyes stay trained on Avery. Without saying a word, we both start walking in the same direction Lyla fled.

“You’re really great with her,” she says.

I give her a look over my shoulder as we weave our way through the aisles.

“With Lyla,” she clarifies.

I don’t think she knows how much those words mean. I’ve loved Lyla dearly since the moment she was born, but taking onmore of a parental role in her life was difficult. It took some time for the four of us to settle into things.

It was all worth it, though, because we’re here now. The life we have all built together is what Liv wanted for her daughter. I think she knew it was what her three brothers needed, too.

“Wow,” Avery says, stepping into the greenhouse’s entrance.

I can’t keep my eyes off her as she wanders through the rows of plants and flowers. Some of them we grow here. Other we have shipped in.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Lyla sitting on the bench in the far corner of the space with her back to us. When Avery walks behind a taller wall of vined plants, I follow her into the tiny alcove.

There’s barely enough space for both of us, so when she turns around, there’s hardly anything separating us.

Her quiet gasp has me running the back of my fingers over her jaw. “Sorry, gorgeous, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You’re always scaring me,” she says quietly.

“I guess I’ll have to work on that.”

She gives me a look like she knows with absolute certainty that’s never going to happen.

She’s probably right.

I can feel her pulse hamming beneath my fingertips, which are now resting against her throat. She drags her eyes up from my chest to my face. Pools of desire and wariness stare back at me.

Fuck, I want to kiss her right now.

Unable to control myself, I swipe my thumb over her plump lower lip. The desire in her eyes starts to overtake the wariness.

“This is such a bad idea,” she groans.